Sydney, Australia – 20 July 2016 – OzTAM today announces the number of homes in its television audience measurement (TAM) panels will rise by 50%. The increase will enhance OzTAM’s already gold standard of television audience measurement, and follows OzTAM’s extension of Nielsen’s contract to supply TAM services in Australia’s five mainland capital cities and nationally for subscription television (STV).

OzTAM and Nielsen’s new three-year agreement spans calendar 2018 through 2020. The expansion, which will be completed by the start of 2017, will take OzTAM’s metropolitan panel to 5,250 homes and its STV panel to 2,120 from the present 3,500 and 1,413, respectively.

Concurrently, Regional TAM has announced the expansion of its own panel by 50% to more than 3,000 homes. In terms of size relative to the population represented, OzTAM’s current sample is already one of the largest internationally. The additional homes in the OzTAM and Regional TAM panels will make Australia one of the world’s largest per capita people metered market, and means OzTAM ratings will be even more representative of the overall population.

Coupled with census data from OzTAM’s Video Player Measurement Report, OzTAM offers a world-leading audience measurement service across all screens. OzTAM CEO Doug Peiffer said: “Australia is a highly dynamic media market, and television is the most scrutinised and analysed of any segment. “To reinforce the confidence the industry retains in OzTAM TV ratings we continually invest in the service to reflect changes in the television landscape and audience behaviour.

“Our longstanding and collaborative relationship with Nielsen has underpinned that effort and supported progressive innovation – for example, Time Shift Viewing, the inclusion of mobile phone-only homes in the panels, and previous increases to the number of panel homes.

“This new agreement builds on our partnership, provides continuity and delivers even greater accountability. And with the additional OzTAM and Regional TAM panel homes, Australia will become the world’s largest per capita people metered market.”

Nielsen’s Head of TV Audience Measurement, David Ellem, said the entire team at Nielsen are thrilled to be continuing this relationship with the TV industry and are ready for this next chapter of cutting-edge television audience measurement. “The Nielsen team have worked hard to deliver the TV industry an impeccable record of exceptional standards of service. The relationship with OzTAM is built on quality, expertise and independence. As OzTAM’s service evolves, Nielsen is there for them every step of the way,” said Mr Ellem.

Mr Peiffer added the additional panel homes would further refine OzTAM ratings estimates as Australia’s population grows and people continue to spread their viewing across new channels. The new agreement also gives OzTAM flexibility to expand its ‘iPanel’, which is separate to the actual television ratings panels and used to test how households respond to new technologies.

Background and evolution of OzTAM’s TV ratings service

Nielsen is OzTAM’s audience research supplier, recruiting, operating and maintaining the in-home panels, and producing the TV ratings data. OzTAM owns the copyright to and markets the data.

Households are recruited to OzTAM's panels via a large-scale Establishment Survey, which defines and accurately represents the population and its characteristics for which OzTAM provides data.

OzTAM first awarded the contract to supply television audience measurement services in Australia to the Italy-based AGB Group (now Nielsen) in 2000. The ensuing ATR Australia TV ratings panel, based on 3,000+ homes in metropolitan areas, began supplying data to OzTAM on 1 January 2001. That contract was extended in 2007 for the period 2008-14.

In April 2003, OzTAM contracted ATR Australia (now Nielsen) to provide television audience measurement services for the National Subscription TV service. That agreement was extended in 2007 for the period 2008-2014.

Investment in Unitam meters allowed OzTAM to add 7-day Time Shift Viewing data to its ratings service from the start of the 2010 ratings year. In 2016 Time Shift Viewing up to 28 days after the original broadcast was introduced.

In 2012 OzTAM’s panel expanded to 3,500 metro homes and 1,413 national STV homes, and Nielsen’s contract was extended through 2017.

The 50% expansion in OzTAM’s metro and STV panel homes will bring the panels to 5,250 and 2,120 homes, respectively, in 2017.

About OzTAM
OzTAM is Australia’s official source of television audience measurement (TAM) covering the five metropolitan markets (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth) and nationally for subscription television. OzTAM ratings are the accepted metric by which Australian television is evaluated. The media industry uses OzTAM data to assist in program development, advertising planning and to gauge the performance of television programs, networks and advertising campaigns. OzTAM’s Video Player Measurement (VPM) reporting service provides Australia’s first official figures for viewing of internet-delivered TV content. www.oztam.com.au

ABOUT NIELSENNielsen N.V. (NYSE: NLSN) is a global performance management company that provides a comprehensive understanding of what consumers Watch and Buy. Nielsen’s Watch segment provides media and advertising clients with Total Audience measurement services across all devices where content — video, audio and text — is consumed. The Buy segment offers consumer packaged goods manufacturers and retailers the industry’s only global view of retail performance measurement. By integrating information from its Watch and Buy segments and other data sources, Nielsen provides its clients with both world-class measurement as well as analytics that help improve performance. Nielsen, an S&P 500 company, has operations in over 100 countries that cover more than 90 percent of the world’s population. For more information, visit www.nielsen.com